Stronger Building Codes Still Being Sought

On the Gulf Coast, people are still debating whether to implement statewide building codes that are far more stringent than what existed previously.

Meanwhile, Take Back the Memorial is reporting that the Lower Mahattan Development Corporation received a waiver to build the memorial at Ground Zero according to building codes of their own design; not the building codes that apply to New York State or New York City. The organization has proffered a letter to be sent to Congress that reads as follows:

To U.S. Congress:

Plans are currently underway to begin construction at Ground Zero. These plans include an underground Memorial to be placed in the area that was bombed in 1993. The plans also make the new buildings exempt from NYC Building and Fire codes. The reason for this exemption is that the site is governed by the Port Authority.

The design of the original towers has already proven that Port Authority regulations fall well short of the NYC guidelines. Repeated requests to review the Port Authority codes have gone unanswered. The fact that they have gone from stating that their codes are stricter than the NYC codes to their new position that they will follow the stricter NYC codes goes to prove that we cannot rely on their commitment. Even if they say they will follow the NYC codes because of their exemptions they will not be open to NYC Building or Fire inspections nor will they be liable for any violations.

Being that this is the only United States location to be subject to multiple terrorist attacks (2 in reality or 3 for insurance purposes) we feel that any new construction should be governed by the most stringent building and fire codes. Since the FDNY will be responsible to answer any future call to the site they should be assured that the new construction follows codes with which they are familiar.

Since an Act of Congress created the Port Authority an Act of Congress is needed to rectify this situation. We ask that you act immediately to follow the wishes of the 9/11 families, most of the uniformed unions and a majority of Americans to eliminate the Port Authority exemptions at Ground Zero.

We also ask that the current underground location of the memorial be removed from the plan. Besides the safety issues inherent in the underground plan we do not feel that we should have to travel into a cavernous tomb to honor our lost loved ones.

The memorial needs to see the light of day and be built with codes that will assure the safety of its occupants.

We call on you to immediately enact legislation to make this a reality.

There were serious questions about the building codes that applied to the World Trade Center, and whether the Port Authority skirted the letter of the law while paying lip service to the safety and security of the buildings. It is still unclear whether the WTC complex would have survived the 9/11 attacks if it conformed to the NYC/NYS building codes at the time of construction.

For all that, we should expect nothing less than the best security and safety measures.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.